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James' INSOMNIA I59 Gaming Festival Blog!

My weekend started on Saturday morning about 8am when Ryan And Dan J Arrived at my house to pick me up to start our journey to Birmingham but first we had one thing to do and that was get a Coffee, oh and I almost forgot pick Dan R up from the train station. After collecting other Dan from the station we set of on our 2 hour journey to the NEC where Insomnia awaited us.

The drive was very uneventful and mainly involved me getting to know the two Dan’s as I had never met them before. We made it to the NEC in good time and decided to go straight there instead of checking into our hotel, when we got there Ryan and the two Dan’s met up with more of their friends who I had no idea who they were we started off by getting our passes and chilling out for a little while waiting for the Hall doors to open.

We waited for the main rush to die down when the doors first opened so we could go in without waiting in a queue, but as soon as you walked in you could see the size of the event it had a big main stage with thousands of seats all lined up facing it in the second hall was the main festival floor which was full of people and exhibits at this point we just wanted to have a quick walk around to scan what was there when we walked into the 3rd hall with the BYOC section in addition to the HP Omen exhibit and the gaming competition stage. After talking to HP for a bit about their OMEN line of products which we decided that were very good for the novice PC Gamer that hasn't or doesn't build their own gaming rigs. Or alternatively their OMEN Laptop line which were great for gaming on the go.

After wondering round the main expo hall a little bit we decided to watch the Insomnia i59 Saturday opening, many boxes were thrown into the crowd however, Sadly we didn't get a box, so after the opening had finished we decided to go chill out for a little bit and go grab some lunch as it had been a busy start to the day.

After a quick stop off at our favourite fast food outlet in the nearby Birmingham airport we went for another wonder round the convention this time we stayed in the main hall to look at all the exhibitors and see what they had brought to the convention, first stop was the G2A booth and they had some cool stuff going on as they had Brought an oculus rift to the convention and also a 3D printer which had been going throughout throughout the weekend, right next to G2A was GTOmega racing where they were showcasing their amazing gaming chairs which in my personal opinion are unrivalled and simply are the best at a really good price for an office chair.

After G2A and GTOmega we went to the arguable the best peripheral manufacturer in Gaming, Razer! On the Friday they had released their brand New PS4 gaming controller the Raiju while I was playing around with the Raiju even though the button layout was the same as a playstation controller I personally felt it is the best Playstation gaming controller ever created, however I still believe that the Xbox controller Layout is the best in the business, apart from a good old keyboard and mouse of course.

As we continued our wonder around the convention we noticed that there was a Microsoft HoloLense there I was desperate to get my hands on it and have a go Sadly I didn't notice in time and didn't get a chance to book a time slot to have a go. by the time we had finished walking around the convention hall we realised it was 4pm so we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel so we could get ready for the World famous pub quiz. After a 40 mile round trip and several hours later (We didn't plan the accommodation well) we all met up as a group just in time for the pub quiz, the Pub quiz was the my favourite time of the entire weekend, several hours of explicit and inappropriate memes which was absolute insanity but was hilarious at the same time a must do experience for anyone attending Insomnia Gaming Festival.

Sunday was much of the same wondering around the convention hall exploring a few of the smaller booths many of which were selling sweets and other small collectable items. We also decided to start an internet stream streaming from the Press room hanging out and having a laugh with a few other members of press getting to know each other and making some friends along the way. In addition to the stream we also did a very special trip to Pizza hut for a traditional final day Pizza session, in total our final day was mainly us all having a good laugh and making some new Friends which is what Insomnia gaming festival is about, we had such a good time at Insomnia and me especially this was my first Insomnia gaming event I booked our whole crew a hotel room for Insomnia 60 in April so I will see you all then!